Extra Moments
by The1WhoListens
Summary: A few moments during Deathly Hallows from various points of view.
1. A Moment for Ginny

"_...and after a while Harry found himself taking [the Marauder's Map] out simply to stare at Ginny's name in the girl's dormitory, wondering whether the intensity with which he gazed at it might break into her sleep, that she would somehow know he was thinking about her, hoping she was alright." (Deathly Hallows p. 313) _

Ginny whipped up into a sitting position in her bed, exhaling a gust of air in a loud gasp. She glanced around, and needed a minute to take in her surroundings. After the shock wore off, she recognized the four poster beds and the same old Gryffindor hangings. She quickly looked to see if she had woken up any of her bunkmates, but, fortunately, no one had stirred. Or perhaps they were just used to her waking up in the middle of the night by now.

She untangled the sheets that had been twisted around her legs and wiped a sheen of cold sweat off her forehead. It had been such a vivid dream. She had been running through the Hall of Prophecy, while glass orbs rained down on her. But it wasn't a memory of her time spent there two years ago. It was different. She was alone and she wasn't running from Death Eaters, she was running to find the others. She knew that somewhere near, a battle was ensuing and she had been left behind. A sense of sheer panic filled her that people she loved were dying and she wasn't allowed to help them, wasn't allowed to take part in the fight for them. As she searched and searched frantically, dread and horror overtook her and she knew she was going to be left alone. She just couldn't find them because the confusing hallways were against her and kept changing and blocking her way.

Ginny lay back down, still breathing heavily. She was confused. While her dream had been terrifying, she was sure it hadn't been what woke her. She looked around at the windows. She almost expected to see an owl pecking at the glass, carrying a note for her, but there was nothing but the glow from the moon. How odd. She had this overwhelming feeling that Harry was trying to contact her. Her heart fell, as sense came to her and she realized how foolish that would be on his part. He was wanted by the ministry and her mail was being watched. Some of her previous fear seized her again as she thought of Harry, Ron and Hermione holed up somewhere out there, trying to conduct their mission without generating attention. Her worry for them intensified at night. She tried to push it to the back of her mind during class and in company, but when everyone else was asleep and the chaotic world they were living in was temporarily silent, she let the fear take hold.

Ginny missed Harry terribly. More than she had missed her brothers when they went away to Hogwarts and she was left alone in the abnormally quiet house with Mum and Dad. She looked out the window again and stared at the moon, which was full and illuminating. She took a tiny bit of consolation in the fact that Harry was lying underneath the same moon tonight, and was perhaps, at this moment, looking up at it as well and thinking of her.

_A/N: The first one. Be wary, these are going to be short chapters because each one is just supposed to be a minute or two. On the bright side, though, this leaves the story very open-ended, so it can always be added to. :) Reviews!_

_~G.L.H.~_


	2. A Moment for Ron

Christmas at Shell Cottage in 1998 was a very unhappy one indeed. Neither Bill nor Fleur seemed to have enough emotional energy to feign happiness and holiday spirit, and Ron was past thinking about enjoying anything. There were no presents, for they were in hiding and couldn't simply walk into Diagon Alley, not that they would if they could. Mrs. Weasley probably had knitted the usual Christmas jumpers for everyone, but had no means of getting them to their recipients, as owls were being watched. The best that the three inhabitants of the seaside cottage could muster was a dreary Christmas tea in the sitting room.

The three of them sat opposite each other, in the small room. The air was thick with sadness and tension. There was little conversation which, unfortunately, freed Ron's mind to think. And whenever his mind had free time, his thoughts always reverted back to Harry and Hermione, alone in a freezing tent somewhere, where they were most likely celebrating Christmas with stewed mushrooms. Or perhaps, they didn't know it was Christmas at all. It was rather hard to keep track of something as trivial as what day it was when you were spending each night on a different lonely hillside. He wanted more than anything to return to them, today more than ever, but how was he to have any clue where they where? He wouldn't even be able to see them or hear them, if he did know. He could only continue to stay with Bill and Fleur and let his misery take him over. For every time he thought of his abandoned friends, which was much more often than not, the guilt and worry punched a hole in his stomach so wide he was sure he was going to split in two. How is it that he was still allowed to breathe after what he did to his friends? He wasn't sure. He felt like a scab on the sole of a rat's foot. The lowest as low could be. Bill and Fleur tried to be comforting to him, but there was times when he would catch something accusatory in their eyes. He didn't blame them. More than his guilt and his worry, he simply missed his friends. They had been living together in such close quarters for so long, that it was as if he had left behind a part of himself.

After they were finished, Ron excused himself, claiming he wanted to go back to sleep. He trudged up the stairs to the small room he occupied and flung himself onto the bed. He tried to sleep, but he just couldn't shake Harry and Hermione. He leaned over to the wireless on his bedside table to tune into Potterwatch. Then,

"... Ron? When he broke his wand,...".

Ron froze. That was Hermione's voice. He looked around; no one there. He hadn't expected to see anyone, the voice was low and muffled. He reached into his pocket; nothing there but Dumbledore's Deluminator. He pulled it out, and examined it closely. It looked the same. But, he had just heard her, he was sure of it. How could he not be? He hadn't known when he would hear her again. He had been dreaming about hearing her voice almost every night, trying to preserve it in his memory. Maybe it was too much. Maybe he was hallucinating. He clicked the Deluminator. Something appeared in his peripheral vision. Outside the window was a floating ball of blue light, bobbing up and down slightly. Its pulsing light was almost beckoning, like a retriever who was coming to fetch him. Certainty formed inside him that that shining light outside his window would take him to Harry and Hermione. 'This is it', he thought. 'I'm going to see them again. They're alright and they'll be waiting for me.' His heart expanded and his previous feelings of self-hatred and despair were washed away, replaced with determination and anticipation. Without a second thought, he leapt to his feet and began shoving his things into his rucksack. He wasn't returning to miserable nights of hunger and cold, he was returning to his friends, and to himself. He was going home.

_A/N: Here's just a quickie. I hope it's alright, I haven't had much time to write, so I thought I'd just add something small so I'm not ignoring my stories completely. Anyways, Reviews are like candy! lol :)_

_~G.L.H.~_


	3. A Moment for Hermione

Hermione wiped the sweat off her brow. The tent was stifling and the fact that she had just made tea didn't help. She put her scalding cup on one of the spindly tables and knelt down next to the stove in the center of the sitting area. She grabbed the fire tongs and opened the hatch on the side. Maybe if she removed a few of the coals, the temperature would lower a few degrees. She stood up and balanced the hot coals at the end of the tongs, as she deftly untied the tent flap with one hand. She stepped outside and tossed the coals into the snow where they went out instantly with a hiss. She sighed and closed her eyes, reveling in the cool winter air. She opened her eyes and looked around; no one there. She dared to take a few steps away from the heat of the tent and let the wind blow her hair around her face. Then, she heard a snap of a twig. She peered through the darkness, thinking it was Harry coming back from the river with something for them to eat. Through the trees she could see a distant shadow approaching. She instinctively backed up closer the mouth of the tent. The sound of snapping twigs and crunching snow grew louder. Then, a figure emerged from the darkness. Hermione's jaw dropped.

"Hey, Hermione," Ron said quietly.

There was an extended pause. Hermione was stunned. How did he find them? More than that, how could he be in her life again so suddenly? She had, in a way, come to terms with the fact that he had gone, and now he was standing before her as if it had all been a bad dream.

"Ron," she breathed, speaking his name for the first time in weeks. "How did you– How could–." Her words were stuck.

"I'm so sorry," Ron said, walking up to her and taking her hands in his, the fire tongs falling into the snow. "I don't know where to begin, but I'm sorry for all of it. I'm sorry for leaving, I'm sorry for not coming back. I'm sorry for taking the mickey out of you in school, and for not taking you to the Yule Ball, but most of all, I'm sorry for not noticing you the way I should have all those years ago. I'm a prat. A hopeless prat. I'm an idiot but I want to change, here, with you. Can you ever forgive me?"

Hermione stood there, the numbness slowly leaving her. She took her hands out of Ron's, and backed up a few steps.

"How could you?" she, said, the anger and hurt coming back to her in a rush. "How could you leave us! When we needed you the most! We were counting on you! Do you have any idea what your absence cost us?"

"I know, I know," Ron said moving toward her again. "You can't comprehend how awful I feel, how sick to my core I feel for doing it. I feel like the smallest person on the planet for it. I'd do anything to take it back, to earn your trust again. And I will! Tell me what to do Hermione. Tell me and I'll do it!"

Hermione gulped against the lump in her throat and looked down at the snow. Her eyes burned.

"How could you leave me?," she said in a very small voice.

Ron took her face in his hands and tilted her face up towards his. He wiped a tear away with the pad of his thumb.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I wanted to come back, so badly. I'd have done anything to have been able to."

They stared into each others eyes. Hermione noticed that his eyes were slightly wet, too. She suddenly realized that she didn't want to hear his apologies. She didn't want to hear his reasons. Her anger faded, as it came to her that she just wanted to hold him. He was here and he wanted to be. She was being filled to the brim with joy that he was standing in front of her, holding her face.

"I love you, Ron," she whispered, placing a hand over one of his. A watery chuckle burst past Ron's lips.

"I love you too, Hermione. I have for a while."

She closed her eyes as he bent down. Their lips met. She moved her hand to the nape of his neck, and gripped the back of his jumper with the other. His hands moved from her face to clasp her shoulders in a tight embrace. The kiss deepened, and Hermione began to loose herself. They started to back up to the tent's entrance. Ron opened the flap, blindly, and they crossed the threshold...

Hermione was suddenly aware of someone shaking her.

"_Hermione!_" the voice said. It wasn't Ron's. She opened her eyes. She was sitting in chair by the stove. Oh, it was Harry's voice. She had been dreaming. Dreaming. It was all a dream. Then, she came to her senses and remembered probable reasons why Harry would be shaking her awake in the middle of the night. She sat up.

"What's wrong? Harry? Are you all right?" She said, quickly, shaking the dream from her mind.

"It's okay, everything's fine. More than fine. I'm great. There's someone here."

"Who – ?"

Then, she saw a shine of red out of the corner of her eye. Not daring to believe, she slowly turned her head. There was Ron, standing right where he had been in her dream. She might have never dreamt anything.

_A/N: Hello! Since I don't like to change events in the books, here's my way of giving Ron and Hermione the reunion I believe they deserved. Hope you liked it. Review, please! ;)_

_~G.L.H.~_


	4. A Moment for Molly

Molly sighed. She had been sitting by the window, and staring at the clock for 4 hours and there was still no change. All three hands remained straight up; pointing at the bolded words '_Mortal Peril'. _She had gotten in the habit of watching it when ever she had free time, which was frequent, as they were holed up at Auntie Muriel's 24/7. Ron's, Harry's, and Hermione's (for she had given Hermione a place in her family, too) hands moved most often. It was her only way of knowing that, whatever state they might be in, they were still alive, at the very least.

After all, they were her family. She had never considered having a small family; not once. She had loved growing up with two brothers, and Fabian and Gideon had made it seem like she had had even more siblings. When they were killed, it completely destroyed her. It was fear of losing someone again that made her so inclusive. Arthur would argue that it was just her loving personality, but Molly knew that deep down, she was terrified of being left alone again. And now, she was so used to being a mother, she just can't help mothering any and every person who comes her way. They are her children. As far as she is concerned, they are. And she will worry like their mother. This includes spending the majority of her time waiting for any possible news, no matter how insignificant it may be.

She was suddenly aware of someone standing next to her. Arthur put a hand on her shoulder.

"Molly dear, come to dinner. Muriel's made shepherd's pie," he said, rubbing her back.

"I will later. Save me some," she said, without looking away from the clock.

"Molly, there hasn't been any change for hours, they're probably asleep," he said, sitting down next to her on the window bench. "You can't just wait like this."

"I need to. I can't relax until I know something, Arthur. I just can't. They're my children, and they're out there on their own, doing Merlin-knows-what, in the middle of Merlin-knows-where!" Molly cried, her tone growing louder with hysteria. "This is ALL I can do to know they're alive! I can't even know if they're safe, or if they're hurt! Or if they've been kidnapped!"

Her voice broke and she covered her face. Arthur put his arms around her shoulders and she collapsed against his chest, shaking with unshed tears. He murmured nonsense in her ear, and she gradually regained control.

"What are we going to do?" she whispered into his sweater.

"I don't know," he answered truthfully.

Just then, a loud click rang through the air. The looked down. Molly gasped. The three hands had moved from _'Mortal Peril' _to _'Traveling'_. She watched with wide eyes as the golden hands moved again and settled on _'Lost'_. With that, Molly leaned over and finally let the tears she had been holding in overflow. Arthur held her again and let a few tears of his own escape.

"At least we know they're alive, Mollywobbles. They're alive."

_A/N: Hello again! Wow, I've been having a good week, writing wise. Here's another short one. Enjoy! Oh and pleeeeeaaaaaaase review! Pretty please? Even if it's just 'I like it' or 'I hate it'. Just something to let me know how my chapters are being received. It means a lot to me. Thanks all! :)_

~G.L.H.~ 


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